The typical Golden State Warriors player makes $3.8 million a year. The highest paid Warriors player makes $15.5 million and the lowest makes $290,000. As a team, the Warriors make $201 million per year total from TV, tickets, licensing and other sources.
The tables below show all the Warriors money facts, including how much money the Warriors make by game, by year and by player. The Warriors will make about $4.1 million in bonuses if they win the NBA Championship this year, but that’s nothing compared to how a Finals win can boost a team’s earning power in future years.
The average Warriors player salary is $5.9 million, but that number is skewed by high-paid players like Klay Thompson with $15.5 million or Draymond Green with $14.3 million. The typical Warriors player doesn’t do much worse than average, with a salary of $3.8 million. Of the 15 players on the Warriors roster, seven make less than that. Power forward Anderson Varejao is the lowest paid Warrior and earns a comparatively low $290,000 per year.
Golden State Warriors Money Facts
How Much Money Do the Warriors Make? | |
|---|---|
| How much money the Warriors make per game (team) | $1,675,000 |
| How much money the Warriors make per game (average money per player) | $49,372 |
| How much money the Warriors make per year (team) | $201,000,000 |
| How much money the Warriors make if they win finals (whole team bonus) | $4,100,000 |
| How much money the Warriors make if they lose a game | $1,675,000 |
| Average Warriors player salary | $5,924,600 |
| Typical (median) Warriors salary | $3,815,000 |
| Highest paid Warriors player | $15,501,000 |
| Lowest paid Warriors player | $289,755 |
| Most underpaid Warriors player | Stephen Curry ($11,370,786) |
| Total money all Warriors players made in 2015-2016 | $88,868,997 |
| How much the Warriors are worth (Forbes estimate) | $1.9 billion |
The Golden State Warriors make $201 million in revenue a year as a team. That works out to $1.7 million earned per game or $49,000 earned by each player per game. That money comes in whether the Warriors win or lose. $88.9 million of that gets used for player salaries. Of course that money isn’t split up evenly. The highest paid player on the team is Klay Thompson with $15.5 million. The lowest paid is Anderson Varejao with $290,000. The middle of the road Warriors salary is $3.8 million. Point Guard Stephen Curry is perhaps the most underpaid player on the Golden State Warriors roster. Curry makes $11.4 million, despite scoring over 2,700 points so far in the 2015-2016 season.
Also see: How Much Money Does an NBA Player Make?
Golden State Warriors Salary List
The table below shows the salaries of all 15 players on the Warriors roster. Shooting guard Klay Thompson has the highest Warriors salary with $15.5 million. Small Forward Draymond Green comes in second with $14.3 million. The total of all salary money for all 30 teams in the NBA was $2.3 billion in the 2015-16 season. Since the Warriors total salary pool is $88.9 million, their salary is 1/26th of the total. That means the Warriors make better than average money when it comes to salary. The Golden State Warriors were originally formed in Pennsylvania in 1946. Back then they were known as the Philadelphia Warriors. Under that name, they won the BAA Finals in 1947. That game is considered to be the very first NBA Championship. The team moved to San Francisco in 1962. In 1972, the franchise changed its name to include the term “Golden State.” They moved their home court to Oakland in the same year.
Golden State Warriors Salaries | ||
|---|---|---|
| Warriors Player | Position | Salary (Cap) |
| Klay Thompson | Shooting Guard | $15,501,000 |
| Draymond Green | Small Forward | $14,260,870 |
| Andrew Bogut | Center | $13,800,000 |
| Andre Iguodala | Shooting Guard | $11,710,456 |
| Stephen Curry | Point Guard | $11,370,786 |
| Shaun Livingston | Point Guard | $5,543,725 |
| Harrison Barnes | Small Forward | $3,873,398 |
| Marreese Speights | Center | $3,815,000 |
| Leandro Barbosa | Shooting Guard | $2,500,000 |
| Festus Ezeli | Center | $2,008,748 |
| Brandon Rush | Shooting Guard | $1,270,964 |
| Kevon Looney | Small Forward | $1,131,960 |
| Ian Clark | Shooting Guard | $947,276 |
| James McAdoo | Small Forward | $845,059 |
| Anderson Varejao | Power Forward | $289,755 |
Related: Highest NBA Salary: Top 20 Players
How Much Money Do the Warriors Make if they Win Finals?
The question of how much money the Warriors will make if they win finals has three answers. The first is that the players will actually make less money per game, because in order to win finals they would have to play more games. With a set salary, that means less per-game pay. The second answer is bonus related. The San Antonio Spurs made a reported $4.1 million in bonus money when they won the NBA Finals in 2014. That’s not necessarily how much the Warriors will make if they win the Championship in 2016. There’s also no clear data on how that bonus money would be split up. However, if it was split up according to the same percentage scale that builds the Warriors players’ salaries, Klay Thompson would take the most with $715,000. Draymond Green would get $658,000 and Stephen Curry would get $524,000. Middle of the road earner Marreese Speights would get $176,000 and bottom earner Anderson Varejao would make $13,363.
The third and perhaps the best answer to the question, “How much money do the Warriors make if they win finals” concerns their future earning power. A finals win traditionally carries higher future player salaries. It also improves ticket sales, endorsement deals and sales of merchandise. Take a look at just the team’s valuation. In 2010, owners Peter Gruber and Joe Lacob bought the Warriors for $450 million. According to Forbes, the team is now worth $1.9 billion. Their 2015 Championship win is very probably responsible for nearly half that gain.
How much the players benefited from the 2015 NBA finals win is difficult to estimate. However, it’s not unlikely that salaries and endorsement deals could climb by 60% or more. For a comparison, check out our article on how much money NFL players make if they win the Super Bowl. In that article, we show data on five past Super Bowl Winners who saw their earnings climb by 67% to 200% after a Super Bowl win. How much would that translate to for the Warriors’ players? Take a look at Stephen Curry as an example. Curry’s current salary is $11.4 million. A 30% bump to his salary would put him in range of $15 million. A similar endorsement boost would push him up to over $30 million a year.
Will a huge earnings boost apply if the Warriors win their second championship in a row? It’s hard to say. In some ways the law of diminishing returns applies for consecutive wins. A championship win in one year may cause a 30% rise in player earnings. It may cause a similar boost to ticket sales and sales of merchandise. A second win may come across financially as preaching to the choir. The extra earnings may already be priced in to some extent. That said, there’s something to be said for the increased fervor around a team that seems unstoppable. It’s possible another championship win in 2016 could inflate the Warriors earnings once again.
Related: NBA Salary
Average Warriors Player Salary
The average salary for the Golden State Warriors is $5.9 million. That number is somewhat thrown out of shape by high earners like Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala in the $10 million-plus range. The median Warriors salary is $3.8 million. Median is just the number where half the players make more and half make less. In some cases, both median and average figures for the Warriors are meaningless. That’s because the salaries are each very different over such a wide range. There’s really no “typical” salary for a Warriors player because each player occupies their own unique level on a widely varied pay scale. To put it in perspective, the top five players make from $11 million to $15 million. The middle five players make from $2 million to $5.5 million. The bottom five make from $290,000 to $1.3 million.
Average Warriors player salary | $5,924,600 |
|---|---|
| Typical (median) Warriors salary | $3,815,000 |
| Highest paid Warriors player | $15,501,000 |
| Lowest paid Warriors player | $289,755 |
1. Klay Thompson: $15,501,000
Klay Thompson is the highest paid player on the Warriors team with $15.5 million. The NBA shooting guard has played for the Warriors since 2011. He’s a two time NBA All-Star and he won the NBA Three Point Contest in 2016. The star player grew up in Oregon and California and led his high school to a 30-5 record. He was ranked as the #6 high school shooting guard in the country. He played for Washington State University and scored an average of 21.6 points per game there in his junior year. Thompson has stepped up his game in the wake of Stephen Curry’s ankle injury late in the 2016 season. In an April 18 game against the Houston Rockets, Thompson racked up an impressive 34 points and drew several fouls. He also threw 16 free throws and sunk all but one of them. Thompson makes a sky high $129,000 per game. With 1,771 points so far in the season, that gives Thompson $8,753 per point.
Klay Thompson Money Info | |
|---|---|
| Salary | $15,501,000 |
| Money per game | $129,175 |
| Money per point | $8,753 |
Related: How Much Are You Worth Compared to an NBA Player?
2. Draymond Green: $14,260,870
26 year old power forward Draymond Green comes in as the second biggest Warriors money maker with $14.3 million a year. The 6 foot 7 Green has been playing for the Warriors since his rookie year in 2012. He was selected as an NBA All-Star in 2016 and is considered to be capable of defending and playing multiple positions. Green earns $119,000 per game. With 1,131 points so far this season, that works out to $12,609 per point. Green’s current contract is for five years and $82 million. He will be an unsigned free agent in 2020.
Draymond Green Money Info | |
|---|---|
| Salary | $14,260,870 |
| Money per game | $118,841 |
| Money per point | $12,609 |
Apparently, Green likes to celebrate Warriors wins by dumping water on legendary point guard Stephen Curry’s head. The video below shows a little post game horseplay between the two players.
Related: Stephen Curry Net Worth
3. Andrew Bogut: $13,800,000
Andrew Bogut is the #3 highest paid Warrior player with $13.8 million a year. That’s $115,00 per game. On a per-point basis, Bogut is the highest paid player on the team. His 375 points got him $36,800 each. The 31 year old Australian NBA Center has played with the Warriors since 2012. From 2005 to 2012 he was with the Milwaukee Bucks. He made the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2006 and the All-NBA Third Team in 2010. He has suffered from a string of injuries over the course of his career. He was reportedly unhappy with the way he played in the 2014-2015 season. As a result, Bogut stopped eating all processed sugar in the following off season. His athleticism in the 2015-2016 season has apparently improved as a result of the change. He dropped 20 pounds and his game stats got significantly better. His current contract is for three years and $36 million. He has earned a total of $105 million so far in his career.
Andrew Bogut Money Info | |
|---|---|
| Salary | $13,800,000 |
| Money per game | $115,000 |
| Money per point | $36,800 |
Related: Dwyane Wade Net Worth
4. Andre Iguodala: $11,710,456
The fourth highest Warriors money maker is Andre Iguodala with $11.7 million a year. The 6’6″ 32 year old NBA small forward and shooting guard makes about $97,000 a game. With 457 points so far this season, he makes $25,625 every time he scores a point. Iguodala signed in 2004 with the Philadelphia 76ers. He was traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2012 and signed with the Warriors in 2013. His current contract is a $48,000,000 four-year deal that gives him about $12 million a year. He has earned over $107 million in salary money so far in his career. He has been fined only $8,000 in his career. That’s low with $2,000 per foul for only four technical fouls. Iguodala was the NBA Finals MVP in 2015 and an NBA All-Star in 2012.
Andre Iguodala Money Info | |
|---|---|
| Salary | $11,710,456 |
| Money per game | $97,587 |
| Money per point | $25,625 |
Related: Kevin Durant Net Worth
5. Stephen Curry: $11,370,786
Stephen Curry is an NBA phenom with 2,375 points so far in the 2015-16 season. At that rate he makes $4,788 per point and $94,757 per game. Curry has an estimated net worth of $27 million. His current contract is for four years and $44 million. He will be an unsigned free agent at the end of the 2016-2017 season. Curry has earned $44.6 million in NBA salary in his career. He has also earned an estimated $26 million in sponsor money. That gives him a total of about $70 million in earnings. Taxes and expenses almost certainly take more than half of that.
Curry injured his ankle in game one of NBA finals against the Houston Rockets. It’s unclear exactly how serious the injury is as of 4/20/16. An MRI didn’t show anything worrying, but Curry had said the injury was tender. Also, Coach Steve Kerr said he didn’t like the way Curry was moving during the game two warmup. So far the remainder of the Warriors roster seems to be taking up the slack just fine with a game two win against the Rockets.
Stephen Curry Money Info | |
|---|---|
| Salary | $11,370,786 |
| Money per game | $94,757 |
| Money per point | $4,788 |
Related: Stephen Curry Net Worth
Interested in learning more about NBA salaries? Check out our article on how much money an NBA player makes. It’s got all the info on NBA player salary, from average and median salary data to the salaries of the top ten NBA players. We’ve also got data on the total NBA salary purse and how it’s grown over the years.
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